Entries in iElectribe
(4)

Here's this week's hand picked tracks from that creative bunch over at SoundCloud. After last week's fairly chilled picks we thought a slightly more uptempo selection would be in order, so here we go:

'Electric Box' by Future Grey

Crafted by San Francisco based Future Grey, we agree with what some of the commenters have said, this has a Bowie feel about it at times which is, of course, no bad thing at all.

We like this track a lot and we are sorry we haven't featured Future Grey's music before now as he has been a part of our SoundCloud group since we started it a few months ago.

'interrupción-de-cuenta-a-cero' by heidellberg

Built on a chunky guitar riff foundation, this track by Heidelberg from Argentina picks up nicely about half way through when the fittingly distorted and spacey vocals kick in. Great Indie stuff.

'Time Lord Bangin'' by GMAN GROOVES

We just enjoyed listening to this track so much that we had to share it with you. These nasty sounding beats were made with Korg's iELECTRIBE (Gorillaz edition) by GMAN GROOVES from Mexico and we like it a lot.

Over to you

We always want to hear your iOS created sounds, so here's how you can get them to us:

It might seem strange having a hardware controller for a software emulation of a hardware beat generator, but we liked this anyway. Whilst this is only a prototype, we think it's got major potential.

Based on Livid Instruments' own hardware control surface Code inside what looks like a home fashioned docking station (i.e. prototype), the Code Station looks like something that should be in production. It is great fun seeing the Code being used to control something like iElectribe too.

Given that the Code is a class compliant MIDI device we think it should work with most MIDI enabled iPad apps where knob twiddling is required. This dock, housing an iPad and Code together, could be something used for live (or recorded live) performances.

We wrote about Korg's fantastic iELECTRIBE a few weeks ago and although we loved it, our only real criticism was the lack of export options, meaning that your beat creations were stuck on the device and couldn't be shared easily.

Well, just yesterday one of our favourite portable music creation blogs Palm Sounds gave us the heads-up on an update to iELECTRIBE which addresses the export issue. Korg has now added several export options including exporting a beat loop to your Mac or PC via the iPad file management interface in iTunes. This means it is ready for use in your desktop DAW, or you can solo a part from your track and export just that to your computer. You can also record a live performance and import via iTunes the same way.

From the Korg website:

iELECTRIBE Version 1.1.0 is now available! This update adds the ability to transfer audio from the iELECTRIBE app into a MAC or PC via iTunes, using CD quality wav files. This feature ultimately allows you to use iELECTRIBE patterns and performances in your DAW or video editing software. Current iELECTRIBE owners can update for free.

It is an impressive update and answers nicely the requests from users for an export option. The video below shows the export options in operation, they look great and very straightforward to use. We found the second part of the video particularly interesting where they record a track with live effects.

iELECTRIBE remains at the introductory price of just $9.99 (£5.99) until the end of June and, as we said in our original post, at that price it is a bargain, grab it now!

Without being able to play an actual instrument, such as Piano or Keyboards, Guitar or Drums, there are still many ways to make music electronically, and the iPad as a platform for unleashing this creativity is no exception. There are new music creation apps being added for the iPad nearly every day, as well as those already existing for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

In this mini-series of posts we will take a look at a few of the main non-Keyboard Synths, Loop and Drum Pad apps that have caught our attention and, importantly, have been written especially for the iPad or have their own re-worked version for the iPad.

First up, a very faithful simulation of an awesome piece of beatmaker hardware:

KORG iELECTRIBEGorgeous to look at and very detailed in its execution, Korg's digital recreation of its own classic hardware the ELECTRIBE•R also includes a few features from some of the more advanced Korg beatmakers the ELECTRIBE•SX and ELECTRIBE•MX, and even the inclusion of the Vacuum Tube animation in the window at the top, the Tubes react as the real ones would, a really nice UI touch.

Korg calls this app a 'virtual analog beatbox' and they say that while it is fun to use it 'is no toy'. Everything has been brought over from the ELECTRIBE•R, the 'entire sound engine and sequencer' and nearly all the functionality you would expect is present here, including features such as:

64 pattern presets get started straight away with these presets covering those on the ELECTRIBE•R plus new ones created especially for iELECTRIBE

8 master effect types some brought over from the SX/MX hardware including the super-grungy Decimator, nice!

Advanced Motion Sequencing: allows live 'tweaking' to be memorised and replayed in your sequence. This improves on the original hardware which was limited in the number of parts it could memorise and incorporate into the sequence, but the iPad app has no limitation, Korg claims it can memorise 'all the parameters for each and every part', allowing some pretty complex patterns to be created.

Sequences you create can be saved in the app, called up later and amended or enhanced, but unfortunately there is no export option at the moment for DAW sync, which means that your creations stay on the iPad and cannot be incorporated into your desktop based music software, at the moment. This may be added, but there is no word on that happening just yet from Korg, although a lot of the iTunes reviews and Korg forum posts are asking for this functionality.

Overall though this app is amazing value for money when you think about what is included here. We have no doubt that, with a certain amount of skill and practice, this app could be used for a live performance, and with the portability of the iPad this could take your performances places the more bulky real life hardware couldn't. Plus you can check your e-mail, browse the web, and show off your photos on the same device, try doing that with your hardware beatmaker!

iECLECTRIBE will normally be $19.99, but until 30th June Korg are selling it for $9.99 (just £5.99) and we think this is a great price for what is 'virtually' an excellent recreation of a couple of hundred dollars worth of hardware. Have a look at the videos below and check it out in the app store if it pushes your buttons.